A-Spec Suspension Install by vtr1000sp2

9 minute read

A-Spec Suspension Install 

Compliments of vtr1000sp2 @ http://acurazine.com

4-13-2010

DISCLAIMER: The information you’re about to read is meant as guidelines only, safety is of the utmost importance and shouldn’t be taken lightly. Support the weight above you securely, use common sense, and exercise caution at all times. Copious amounts of alcohol can be consumed after the installation is complete, not during. No tools were harmed during the making of this D-I-Y. When possible, use anti-seize during re-assembly and use new hardware provided with A-Spec kit.

I’m going to assume you can take care of parking the car so that you’ve got plenty of room to work on the vehicle and know how to take the wheels off. If this seems difficult to you, please don’t continue reading and call your local dealership. No kidding, call the dealer.

BACK:
Start with the back first, get the hard part out of the way. I used the service manual to figure out how to take apart the rear seats but I’ll cover the basics. Base of the seat comes out first, feel around the front of the lower seat portion where it meets the carpet, there’s a tab, push down on the seat cushion directly above that area and pull out the tab. This needs to be done on either side. The seat base should lift up and pivot out revealing the (4) 10mm bolts that need to be removed in order to get the seat back free. There’s also a plug to disconnect by the drivers side passenger door, right by one of the 10mm bolts you’re removing be sure to unplug it. Seat belts have to come out as well, this is easy enough. Now you’re ready to remove the seat back revealing the top strut mounts, you can see them but to get a wrench in there, pop out the front row of white clips, I used a set of standard wire cutter pliers to get in there and assist me in popping these out, I didn’t break any so if I can do it, so can you.

Here’s a pic showing the progress so far:



Now it’s onto the top strut mounts, remove the (4) 14mm nuts off using a 3/8” ratchet with a deep 14” socket, no need for extensions or swivel joints. Here’s a pic showing how I did it. Keep in mind, you’ll need to go over the harness, not below:



Now jack up the car, take the wheels off, use jackstands to keep it up in the air.



Pick a side and get at it, only difference is that on the drivers side, there's a 10mm nut to be removed to free up the auto leveler. Now, the cotter pin on lower ball joint comes out, then it’s a 22mm socket to get the castle nut off, you’ll need a mallet or hammer to influence the release of the lower control arm from the ball joint.

Now remove the (2) 14mm bolts holding the sway bar up to the chassis

This is where an extra pair of hands (or feet) comes in handy, which I had, while one person manipulates the lower control arm towards the ground, work the spring out, you may have to spin it to get it out, I did. Grab that new spring and put it in just as you took this one out, do it while the memory of removing the old is still fresh even though the shorter A-Spec spring will fit easier, just makes sense to do it now. You’ll need a floor jack to help guide the lower control arm back up in to place. When I got it back into position, the side I was working on lifted away from the jackstand slightly, but it wouldn’t be for long so I left it, stayed away from being underneath the body and snugged up the castle nut for the lower control arm quickly so that the floor jack could be relieved of duty and the car rests safely back on the jackstand.

Now you’re ready to button up the sway bar mount that was previously removed, torque up the lower control arm castle nut (50-55ft.lbs.) so that you’ve got a clear path through the hole for the cotter pin. Use one of the new cotter pins from the kit.

Now the shock, since the top is ready to rock, all that’s left is the lower bolt. This should be a 14mm if memory serves me right, it wasn’t very tight on mine so no need for an impact gun here, just give it a shot, should back right off. Remove the bolt completely; the shock lower is a donut mount that resides on a pin secured to the spindle. See the pics below for reference, one shows the bolt coming off, the other shows the spindle pin.

Now you’re ready to take out the rear shock. For an interesting comparison, compress the shock using your own strength, seems too easy doesn’t it? Now try it with the new A-Spec shock, not as easy. Putting the new shock back in is fairly straightforward but it helps to have someone inside to guide you through the holes and they can throw a nut on to keep it there while they run in for more beer. For the donut mount at the bottom, you may need the floor jack again if your spindle has moved. Go ahead and tighten it all back up. Do the other side in the back, throw the wheels on, torque and let’s move to the front.

FRONT: 
Start with taking off the panels under the hood to reveal the bolts at the top of the front shock.



I was unable to get the car high enough to get jackstands underneath so I used 2 floor jacks to work on each corner at a time. Start with removing the 17mm nut/bolt on the bottom of the shock fork that goes through the front lower control arm.



When that’s done, get the 14mm pinch bolt off of the top of this same fork.



Now comes the interesting part and here is where your own creativity will come in handy. I used a go-kart axle to force the front spindle away from the shock enough that I could get the fork out from under the shock. I will tell you, this wasn’t easy, it was part brute force, part finesse. No pictures to show the process, we were both busy getting it sorted. Good luck to you.

Once the fork is free from the bottom of the front shock, grab that 14mm socket and take off all 6 nuts at the top of the shock making sure that someone is there to grab the shock when the last nut comes off, I was able to get one hand onto the fork as the other hand took off the nut.

Reverse the procedure for the new shock, note the anti-seize used:

Throw the wheel on, torque it, repeat the same on the other side.

The $880 includes a 4-wheel alignment for A-Spec specific RL's. I got my alignment done today for $140 CAD. Buffalo dealer quoted me $89 plus tax but I won't have the time to get it done there.